Board Hopes To Cut Back Costs Of Building Schools

October 18, 2005|By Marc Freeman Education Writer

RIVIERA BEACH — Just a few years ago, paying $100 million to build a new high school was unthinkable. Now, Palm Beach County is preparing to build two above that staggering price because of soaring land, labor and materials costs.

New middle schools are crossing the $40 million threshold, and elementary campuses start at $22 million, according to the school district's building plan through 2010.

With no end to construction inflation in sight, School Board Chairman Tom Lynch is challenging administrators and a citizens oversight committee to find ways to build schools cheaper. Those discussions started Monday and will continue into next year, but no one is holding out much hope.

"We're already going out and getting the lowest possible prices," said T.R. Hernacki, an engineer based in North Palm Beach.

One potential cost-saving approach would involve packaging several building projects in a single award. Now, major jobs are typically put out for bids one at a time throughout the year, and prices of nearly identical projects can vary.

Members of the citizens group say it's not clear packaging would offer any savings, and it could shut out minority companies.

"If we Wal-Mart out our projects we will in essence close out local firms from doing this work," said Michael Gelfand, a West Palm Beach construction law attorney.

Architect David Porter of Palm Beach Gardens agreed: "I just don't see the packaging working. While it works for generic commodities, I don't know if it works for a complex project."

District Facilities Chief Joseph Sanches said, "Very few small and minority firms can bond or carry the financing for one of our projects, much less several of them."

The urgency behind Monday's discussion stems from school construction costs rising at least 5 percent a year, while prices for building designs are rising about 2 percent a year. Between January 2004 and January 2005, the price of steel rose 46 percent and copper shot up 22 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Rebuilding efforts following the recent hurricanes have compounded the problem.

Lynch says the district has been successful at limiting costs in recent years by recycling some school designs. More of that kind of ingenuity is needed now.

"With the cost of cement and lumber going up, we just have to be a little more creative," he said, suggesting one approach could be building taller buildings. "With the price of land in Palm Beach County, we should be looking at three stories or four stories."

Marc Freeman can be reached at mjfreeman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6642.

CONSTRUCTION COSTS SOARING

A citizens committee is beginning to study ways Palm Beach County public schools can save on upcoming construction projects. At a projected budget of nearly $1.7 billion, the school district is planning to open, replace or renovate about 60 schools between now and the end of the 2009-10 school year. These are some initial ideas:

Packaging projects: Award numerous projects at the same time to a single general contractor

Reuse designs: Try to make the same building designs work for multiple projects